The glycerol glut resulting from booming biodiesel industry has created an urgent need to quickly and effectively convert crude glycerol into value-added chemical products. This plays a role in the economic sustainability of integrated bio-refineries since the profitability of a renewable fuel production facility often relies on the value of its co-products. With glycerol's wide range of utility in specialty chemical production, biodiesel producers can find opportunity in the transformation of their byproduct stream. For example, there may be opportunities in synthesizing acrolein and acrylic acid from glycerol. Acrolein and acrylic acid find wide applications such as in water-soluble acrylate coating, textile treating agents, adhesives, thermosetting acrylic resin, and plastics. Polyacrylic acid and its copolymers have applications in the production of superabsorbent polymer, detergent intermediates, water/oil treatment polymers, dispersants, flocculants, packing materials, and thickeners.
Acrolein is commercially produced by controlled oxidation of propylene in gas phase, and it can be further partially oxidized into acrylic acid or used as a chemical synthesis intermediate for chemicals such as methionine (an essential amino acid mainly used in the formulation of animal feed), glutaraldehyde, and polyurethane. Unfortunately, the conventional method is heavily dependent on the fossil origin of propylene. Moreover, intensive efforts in recent years to convert glycerol to acrolein and acrylic acid has been hindered by rapidly deactivating catalysts due to coke accumulation on the surface of catalysts.
As such, improved methods and systems for conversion of glycerol to acrolein and other co-products are needed. More particularly, methods and systems for conversion of glycerol to acrolein and other co-products with increased efficiency are needed.